an alert photographer in their party took a picture of this uncharacteristic con- duct. The picture so fascinated the edi- tors of Variety, which does not custom- arily print news photographs, that they reproduced it. The theatrical weekly and the Mor- ris agency have for many years been linked by an affectIon uncommon even in show business, in which almost com- plete strangers call each other "dar- ling." During the past winter's Western Union strike, the agen- cy even let Variety use its trans- continental teletype facilities for the transmission of news. Vari- ety's editor, during the peak of Camp Shows' activities, thought up the slogan "Join the U.S.O. and See the World. " In Variety's big annual anni- versary editions, most agencies are al- lotted advertising space far in the back, while the Morris office usually extends its institutional greeting from the in- side of the front cover. In 1926, on the thirtieth anniversary of William Morris's entry into show business, Varie- ty published a special William Morris edition of a hundred and twelve pages. There were fifty pages of testimonial ads from friends and clients of the agency, many of whom took the op- portunity to eulogize themselves a lit- tle, too. There were tributes to Morris from Al Herman ("The Assassin of Grief and Remorse") and his Min- strels, from The Original Alfred LateH ("Recognized by Press and Public as the World's Greatest Animal Imper- sonator"), from The Original Incom- parable N onette (a singing violinist), from Albert G. Ruben, life insurance ("One agent to another"), and from The Famous Plymouth, Vt., Old Time Dance Orchestra, "assisted by company of 8 Vermont Champion Square Dancers Depicting 'Rural Ameri- cana.' " This act came from President Coolidge's home town, and among its principals were an eighty-one-year-old uncle of the President, who played the violin; two cousins of the President, one a clarinetist and the other a dance prompter; and severa] Presidential ac- quaintances. During Coolidge's ad- ministration, Lastfogel booked this troupe into a number of theatres. De- spite their exalted connections, the New Englanders never attain'ed the resound- ing success the agency had hoped for. "I sold them all right," Lastfogel said, "but they just didn't make it." D URING most of his career, Wil- liam Morris, Sr., fought with the vested interests of vaudeville-the Keith-Albee and Kelth-Orpheum cir- cuits-and for a while, early in this cen- tury, ran vaudeville houses of his own. In the nineteen-twenties, the agency teamed up with the Chicago firm of Balaban & Katz, who had thought up the idea of turning movie theatres into u "presentation houses," in which films and vaudeville were jointly dispensed. The l\1orris office got into this alliance largely because A. J. Balaban, the Roxy man, who distrusted agents and would deal with them only through an assistant named 1\10r- ris Silver, happened into Silver's hotel roonl one day when Lastfo- gel was there. Lastfogel dragged Balaban off to see a variety show before the theatre man knew what was hap- pening. Ba aban was impressed hy the impulsive young man, and this acciden- tal meeting led to a long friendship, in the course of which Silver found himself switched from Balaban & Katz to the Morris office. He is still with it. Balaban & Katz and the agency worked together in making the "presen- tation houses" reaJ opposition to the Keith-Orpheum chain of vaudeville houses, and the competition pushed en- tertainers' salaries to ne\v heights. This àelighted Lastfogel, who has always ad- vocated higher wages for the performers he represents. Once, at his suggestion, and over the objections of some of the Balaban & Katz staff, Balaban paid the late Joe Penner six hundred dollars a week, which was double what Penner had been getting. This was regarded as rash extravagance. Later, Balaban went to Europe for a few years. When he re- turned, he asked Lastfogel how he was making out with his crusade for higher salaries. Lastfogel told him that Pen- ner had just been booked into the Para- mount Theatre by the Morris office as the star of the stage show . "We asked for seventy-five hundred a week," Last- fogel said, " nd the Paramount was indignant. So we said we'd settle for five thousand and a percentage of the gross. The theatre said O.K. Last week Penner walked out with thirteen thou- d " san. Stage-show stars in presen ta tion houses nO\N sometimes tuck away even more fabulous amounts, less taxes, but vaudeville, or what is left of it, is a less lucrative field than radio or the movies. In 1929, the Morris office' began to ex- pand its radio department, which is now directed by Willianl Murray, the hus- band of Ilka Chase and, as far as is known, the only active agent with a command of classic Greek. It may cheer some of the clients of the Morris 35 ' ,-.--, :'::} 7:"':-":' '." ;;::;;:;:; ' r} :? f- j t%l :::==- -'. - ;-- t .(, .:s-; ": t , ;::;:. ..;: Make any social gathering as gay as a wedding with GOLD SEAL Champagne. Everybody likes it Costs less than the food at a dtnner party. Bottle-fermented- the only correct way. 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